Books by Elizabeth Alexander
Religious Studies and Rabbinics: A Conversation, 2017
Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first sustained effort to create a conversation be... more Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first sustained effort to create a conversation between these two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the other engages the same questions. A second line of argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual" or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to Rabbinics are employed fortexts from other traditions, both Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first
sustained effort to create a conversation be... more Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other.
The rule that exempts women from rituals that need to be performed at specific times (so-called t... more The rule that exempts women from rituals that need to be performed at specific times (so-called timebound, positive commandments) has served for centuries to stabilize Jewish gender. It has provided a rationale for women's centrality at the home and their absence from the synagogue. Departing from dominant popular and scholarly views, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander argues that the rule was not conceived to structure women's religious lives, but rather became a tool for social engineering only after it underwent shifts in meaning during its transmission. Alexander narrates the rule's complicated history, establishing the purposes for which it was initially formulated and the shifts in interpretation that led to its being perceived as a key marker of Jewish gender. At the end of her study, Alexander points to women's exemption from particular rituals (Shema, tefillin, Torah study), which, she argues are better places to look for insight into rabbinic gender
Departing from the conventional view of mishnaic transmission as mindless rote memorization, Tran... more Departing from the conventional view of mishnaic transmission as mindless rote memorization, Transmitting Mishnah reveals how multi-faceted the process of passing on oral tradition was in antiquity. Taking advantage of the burgeoning field of orality studies, Elizabeth Shanks Alexander develops a model of transmission that is both active and constructive. Proceeding by means of intensive readings of passages from tractate Shevuot and its Talmudic commentaries, Alexander alerts us to the fact that transmitters and handlers of mishnaic text crafted both the vagaries of expression and its received meanings. She illustrates how the authority of the Mishnah grew as the result of the sustained attention of a devoted community of readers and students. She also identifies the study practices and habits of analysis that were cultivated by oral performance and shows how they were passed on in tandem with the verbal contents of the Mishnah, thereby influencing how the text was received and understood.
Journal Articles by Elizabeth Alexander
This article examines a sugya in BT Berakhot about the interactions between the living and the de... more This article examines a sugya in BT Berakhot about the interactions between the living and the dead and argues that attention to gender is crucial to discerning the theological themes that animate it. Bodies in this sugya are vividly gendered and pointedly juxtaposed. The sugya's editors construct a striking contrast between living (male) rabbis, who adorn themselves with distinctively male ritual objects (phylacteries and fringes), and a dead (female) innkeeper, who yearns for objects needed for female adornment (comb and makeup). I argue that the sugya's editors communicate the urgency of using the (male) living body to respond to divine command while still living by juxtaposing it to a female body in the realm of the dead.
This article examines the mezuzah's role in the construction of social spaces in antiquity. Loca... more This article examines the mezuzah's role in the construction of social spaces in antiquity. Located on the threshold, the mezuzah could be associated with a house's interior or exterior. Philo and the tannaitic rabbis envisioned different social constituencies engaging the mezuzah on different sides of the threshold. Philo imagines a broad public, including Jews and gentiles interacting with the mezuzah, such that the mezuzah adds a distinctly Jewish moral and aesthetic presence to an already culturally and ethnically diverse urban environment. The tannaitic rabbis, on the other hand, stress the importance of mezuzah for a Jewish householder's dependents (women, slaves and minors), embedding him in the center of a community of his dependents.
This article argues that the rabbis exempted women from Shema and tefillin because the rabbis und... more This article argues that the rabbis exempted women from Shema and tefillin because the rabbis understood these rituals to be forms of Torah study, from which women were already known to be exempt. Though the dominant scholarly position regards the Shema as a liturgical affirmation of key doctrinal commitments, this article demonstrates that performance of these rituals was also a means of internalizing the biblical text. As such, these rituals had much in common with Torah study, which was also a means of internalizing the biblical text. The article makes this argument by examining Second Temple sources which cite, paraphrase, or allude to the Shema verses. Where Second Temple sources engage the verses of ritual instruction, they regard the rituals as a means of internalizing various commitments (justice, the nature of God, divine beneficence). Against this backdrop, it becomes clear that for the rabbis too these rituals were a means of internalizing something: biblical scripture.
This contribution is located at the intersection of orality studies and Rabbinic studies. 1 On on... more This contribution is located at the intersection of orality studies and Rabbinic studies. 1 On one hand, I hope to be able to show how methodologies employed in the field of orality studies can further our understanding of Rabbinic materials. At the same time, I hope to introduce colleagues from orality studies to a noteworthy phenomenon in Rabbinic literature and suggest how attention to this phenomenon may be able to contribute to theories already current within the field.
Book Chapters and Other Short Essays by Elizabeth Alexander
Scholars typically rely on the cues of genre to illuminate tannaitic practices of reading the leg... more Scholars typically rely on the cues of genre to illuminate tannaitic practices of reading the legal portions of biblical scripture. Midrash, which adopts the format of scriptural commentary, is regarded as a privileged site for excavating tannaitic reading practices. Mishnah, which collects independent legal traditions into a compendium, is generally disregarded. This chapter argues that these generic conventions are unreliable indicators of the presence (or absence) of scriptural interpretation. The tannaitic framing of the biblical legal heritage, which Tannaim regard as innate to the biblical text, o ers a di erent kind of evidence of interpretation, one that is rhetorically unmarked and attested in both midrash and Mishnah. This chapter documents a gap between the terms and concepts that the Tannaim impute to the biblical text and those native to biblical sources and reconstructs the jurisprudential concerns that drive the interpretative process that leads from one to the other.
This chapter argues that the conventional scholarly characterization of Shema recitation as affir... more This chapter argues that the conventional scholarly characterization of Shema recitation as affirmation of doctrine does not adequately account for the fact that the Rabbis regard bodily states, including gender, as relevant to one’s ability to perform the practice. The chapter argues that bodily states are relevant to rabbinic Shema recitation because, for the Rabbis, the ritual entails the incorporation of scripture into the body. The chapter develops its interpretation of rabbinic Shema recitation, and the related ritual of tefillin, as embodied rituals by examining pre-rabbinic sources that foreground the embodied aspect of rituals derived from the Shema verses.
Keywords:
Shema, tefillin, tzitzit, Qumran, Aristeas, Philo, Josephus, Tannaim, rabbis, gender, sexuality, ritual
Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first
sustained effort to create a conversation be... more Religious Studies and Rabbinics represents the first
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual"
or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to
Rabbinics are employed for texts from other traditions, both
Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
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Books by Elizabeth Alexander
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the other engages the same questions. A second line of argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual" or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to Rabbinics are employed fortexts from other traditions, both Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other.
Journal Articles by Elizabeth Alexander
Book Chapters and Other Short Essays by Elizabeth Alexander
Keywords:
Shema, tefillin, tzitzit, Qumran, Aristeas, Philo, Josephus, Tannaim, rabbis, gender, sexuality, ritual
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual"
or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to
Rabbinics are employed for texts from other traditions, both
Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the other engages the same questions. A second line of argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual" or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to Rabbinics are employed fortexts from other traditions, both Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other.
Keywords:
Shema, tefillin, tzitzit, Qumran, Aristeas, Philo, Josephus, Tannaim, rabbis, gender, sexuality, ritual
sustained effort to create a conversation between these
two academic fields. In one trajectory of argument, the
book shows what is gained when each field sees how the
other engages the same questions. A second line of
argument brings research methods, theoretical claims, and
data associated with one field into contact with those of
the other. When Religious Studies categories such as "ritual"
or "the sacred" are applied to data from Rabbinics and,
conversely, when text-reading strategies distinctive to
Rabbinics are employed for texts from other traditions, both
Religious Studies and Rabbinics enlarge their scope.
Program Overview
SIP fosters interdisciplinary studies of religious practice, textual study, history, theology, and interpretation among students of the scriptural religions. SIP draws its methods from out of the comparative study of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim practices of scriptural study and interpretation, but it also extends these methods to the study of other scripturally centered traditions. The primary goal of SIP is to examine the Bible, the Qur'an, and other scriptures as literatures that generate communities of religious practice: practices of study, of interpretation and reflection, of ritual, and of social life. All these practices are examined in their own terms as well as in their relations to the scriptural literatures. The Area of SIP supports three specific programs of study:
Scripture, Interpretation and Practice
This program explores the phenomena of scriptural study, textual interpretation, and religious practice in all three of the Abrahamic traditions, as well as in other scripturally centered traditions. While specializing in one scriptural tradition and in one family of study practices, each student explores all of the study practices within SIP and at least three scriptural traditions.
The Study of Judaism
This program examines Judaism as expressed through its textual tradition, its ritual practices and its modern thought. The study of Judaism is approached through three overarching rubrics: Textuality, which focuses on the study of foundational texts in both their historical context and as received and re-interpreted by later generations of Jews; Practice, which entails the study of the rituals, observances, and social practices of Judaism; and Modern Thought, which examines the encounter between Judaism and Western, as well as non-Western, philosophical sources.
Islamic Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice
In this program, graduate students with a concentration in Islam investigate the dominant modes of scriptural reasoning prevalent among Muslims. They study the Qur'anic tradition on four levels: Encounter with the Qur'an, Encounter with the Tradition (the Sunnah), Encounter with modern Muslim responses to the classical heritage, and Encounter with recent "postmodern" or "postliberal" approaches to scriptural reasoning among all three of the Abrahamic traditions.